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tv   CNN Newsroom  CNN  September 14, 2010 9:00am-11:00am EDT

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unlike yesterday. just saying. >> we won't go back to that. come on. of course, tomorrow morning is a great place to start your day because we'll have live coverage. great wrap of all the primaries throughout. >> great elections tonight. be here tomorrow. >> one down in delaware we are keeping our eyes on. stick around for kyra phillips. good morning. >> good morning. candy, great to see you. loved watching you. a pediatrician disappears. this man is linked to child pornography. and we saw that gas explosion and fire laid waste to san bruno, california. now a closer look at the moment of impact thanks to security cameras. a big debate of cough syrup and how safe it is. one day soon you might need a doctor to prescribe it. i'm kyra phillips. you are live in the cnn newsroom.
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all right. first, we again with breaking news. this happening out of iran. free at last. iran's press tv reports that american hiker sarah shourd is released after being held for more than a year. reza sayah will join us from pakistan shortly to tell us more about the release and cost $500,000 to get her bail paid. also happening right now, a multi-state manhunt for this doctor, a phoenix area pediatrician suspected of distributing child porn. the fbi says that the dr. luna may have fled from arizona to texas, california illinois or mexico. all places he has called home some point. last week, the doctor under house arrest and required to wear an angle monitoring bracelet but officers say he just cut it off and bolted. keep in mind this is a man whose jobs is to care for our sick, vulnerable kids. and he's charged with five
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counts of distributing child pornography in interstate commerce. these neighbors, some children were treated at the suspect's office. >> i don't know why anyone would want to indulge in child pornography. i think it's horrible. >> reporter: doctor luna's arrest shocked parents and neighbors. he is accused of sharing thousands of files of child porn online. >> if in fact he did do it, he should never be allowed to be be -- be around children again. >> reporter: a judge allowed him to be around children before a trial. he was under house confinement with an electronic monitoring device but going to this glendale church. the judge made the decision with no criminal record and not considered a flight risk. >> i have to wonder at the
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treatment given to criminals, particularly ones that would go after children. >> reporter: a family member called investigators when he didn't come back and detectives found an abandoned vehicle. inside, bolt cutters and ankle monitor. desert valley pediatrics said obviously as pediatricians we are disgusted by the allegations which are against every belief that we as pediatricians hold dear. >> i want him caught. who knows what he's going to do next? >> and joining us now live from phone from phoenix susan herskovits. any word on where the doctor might be right now? >> no. we are -- at this time but we are actively seeking him and we expect to have him in custody. >> what exactly was found in his home? >> we have not searched his home. >> has anyone -- what have you done with regard to the
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investigation thus far? >> we can't go into the specifics but obviously we are going to be contacting all of his family members, friends, all of his known associates and going to places that he's been known to live before. we'll be looking on both sides of the border for him. working with our partners in law enforcement in mexico. >> what type of evidence do you have that makes you believe that he is as everybody is saying a pedophile and someone when's been distributing child porn, possibly molesting a number of his patients? >> he's not accused of being a pedophile. we don't have information linking him to active ped feel yeah. we have him trading child -- we believe he traded child porn on a peer to peer network on the internet. he is not accused of being a pedophile or molester. >> you don't believe he's assaulted any of the children he was treating? >> we have no information in that regard.
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it is just very concerning and troubling that he's a pediatrician and had ready access to children or did until he surrendered his medical license. >> he was held previously and let go. why was he released? >> well, the -- you know, hindsight's 20/20 and we can be critical of the judge but we are not. the judge had to make a decision and this man had no criminal record. he had significant support from his family. he was just viewed not as a flight risk. however, you know, now that he's gone obviously we wish a different decision had been made but the judge had a difficult decision to be made. >> what type of assets out there now trying to track him down? is it on foot? is it by air? >> well, we'll put all the resources we have available to the fbi and we have national and international resources. we are grateful for things like this, cnn, getting the word out about him because we believe that the public will end up assisting us in this regard. >> all right.
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susan with the phoenix fbi, we'll be following the investigation. appreciate your time this morning. now back to the other developing story out of iran. iran's press tv reporting that american hiker sarah shourd released after being held for man than a year. cnn's reza sayah joining us from pakistan. was that bail paid? >> reporter: that's not clear at this point, kyra. that was the condition that was outlined by senior prosecutor in a news conference in teheran sunday saying essentially sarah shourd can be released from prison and leave iran if she can post $500,000 in bail money. there were some reports that sarah shourd's family was trying to lower that amount but so it's not clear exactly how much was posted if indeed that entire amount was posted but the big news is that she has been released from prison according to her lawyer after more than 13
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months behind bars, most in solitary confinement without being formally charged and one opportunity to see her lawyer just a few days ago. she is in the care of her lawyer and the officials of the swiss embassy in teheran because teheran and washington do not have diplomatic relations. it is the swiss thames a's played the role of mediator in this matter. she is released. the next step is getting out of iran and heading for u.s. soil for the long awaited reunion with her family. ri ka? >> we don't know if that money was paid to get her out. what about the other two hikers that are still in prison there? >> reporter: according to the senior prosecutor, they're not going anywhere. they're going to remain behind bars. they're suspected of spying for the rust when they allegedly crossed into iranian soil in july 2009 when they were hiking along the iran-iraqi border.
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the senior prosecutor said on sunday they haven't confessed to spying but he said there's enough evidence that shows they were spying. spying is a very serious crime in iran if convicted. you could face the possible death penalty so this is a good day for sarah shourd but the ordeal is far from over for these two men, one of them sean bauer the fiancee of sarah shourd. >> reza sayah, thanks. seven weeks from today voters head to the polls in the midterm elections but today we learn what candidates make the final cut. today some of the key races in today's primaries. new york congressman charlie rangel, facing an ethics trial later this year and former president bill clinton taped an robo call urging voters for their support. >> we need charlie to go back in washington to work with president obama to say, yes.
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charlie rangel has always been there for us. i urge you now to be there for him in this tuesday's democratic primary. again, this is bill clinton. thanks. >> new york is just one of the seven states holding primaries today and district of columbia. today's voting not only decide the november ballots but set the tone of angry voters are before the midterm elections and covering the angles of today's races with the best political team on television. this hour, senior political editor mark preston and shannon travis. let's begin with mark at the cnn.com politics desk. mark? >> kyra, seven states and the distri district of columbia holding primaries today. call it an east coast primary. all of the states but wisconsin sending voters to the polls. start off in mn hn. the new hampshire. we have front page editorials of the conservative newspaper blasting outsider groups for trying to weigh in on the race.
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you have the battle between moderates and conservatives for the soul of the republican party and of course you have sarah palin in that race. those two people were focusing on that race right now. the front-runner, considered more moderate and the more conservative candidate in that race. shift down to new york, very quickly you mentioned charlie rangel. he faces five primary challengers. we should know rangel is very well liked in his district. likely to win reelection and again this isn't the kind of news these ethics woes he is facing that democrats want to have to handle heading into november. let me just close by talking about here in d.c. we have fenty right now, the mayor of the district of columbia who made a name for himself trying to reform education. he has a tough fight for reelection here in d.c. kyra? >> what's next, mark? >> well, kyra, excellent question. we have seen a lot of divisive
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primaries. incumbent republicans knocked out in utah and alaska. knocked out by tea party activists. angry conservatives. kyra, interesting to see if november will these angry voters still show up at the polls? will they vote republican? guess what, kyra. if the tea party activism continues to foster itself it turns what's expecting to be a good night for republicans into a great night for republicans. >> mark, thanks so much. cnn's shannon travis reported extensively on the tea party and in delaware where they're challenging the establishment. shannon, there's nasty words hurled around in this race. >> kyra, you follow these things for -- these political races. let me ask you a question. when did you hear words like canalism, prostitution and death threats being hurled in a political race? >> it definitely wasn't a political race. >> yeah. absolutely not. but those are exactly the kinds of words that you're hearing
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right now here in delaware. let's set this up. christine o'donnell is the tea party-backed republican candidate. she's running hard for what was joe biden's vice president joe biden's old senate seat. the campaign alleged that the delaware republican party eating their own and calling it canalism to get her out of the way. they feel, the o'donnell campaign feels that the establishment wants mike castle and that they'll spare no expense and do something, stop at nothing to actually get it. in terms of this notion of prostitution, tom ross is the chairman of the delaware republican state party. o'donnell come pain and supporters accuse him of being in bed with mike castle supporting him and in terms of death threats, tom ross, that same chairman of the delaware republican party, he's actually received death threats according to our brian todd.
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and the o'donnell campaign, obviously, denounces any talk of violence or acts of violence and it is gettingen creasingly bitter in the final hours as voters go to the polls winding down this republican race. >> shannon travis, we'll be following it. thanks so much. cnn is the place to be for continuing coverage of the primaries all day long. late they are hour at 45 past, mark preston will return with the latest information from the cnn politics.com desk. abusing over the counter drugs. you may need a prescription for items that you might not believe some are using to get high. [ female announcer ] you use the healing power of touch every day.
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we often hear prescription drugs going otc, over the counter. the dea and fda weigh in on the dangers of over the counter cough suppressants. last year more than 8,000 people mostly teens hospitalized for misusing cough syrups. sometimes with deadly results. elizabeth cohen reports. >> reporter: carl was an
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all-american teen, good looking, talented and popular. for much of his high school years he was getting high on over the counter cough syrup. his mother misty always talked to him about the affects of drugs and alcohol but never thought to talk to him about cough suppressants until she tried to wake him up one morning and couldn't. >> unfortunately i found him in his bed and at that point it was too late. >> reporter: that was in 2003. since she's been on a mission to make sure other parents are aware that over the counter cough medicines can be abused. when she discovered empty bottles in her home, it never occurred to her that carl might be doing something dangerous but on the day he died it hit her. what triggered the death was sitting there in the medicine cabinet. >> it is inexpensive and they don't have to have a scary drug dealer to obtain it. >> reporter: 8% or 1.3 million teens have reported abusing over
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the counter cough suppressants over the past year. the ingreed yaents that creates the high is dex. it's found in all sorts of products on dug store shelves. when you take a lot of it it can create a euphoria and it can also raise your body temperature, blood pressure and your heart rate and then if it's mixed with other drugs, it can kill you. dex-related emergency room visits increased more than 70% from 2004 to 2008 so the drug enforcement administration is asking for help. they want advice from the food and drug administration on whether to make products like nigh quill, tylenol cold medicine available by prescription only. some say this is going overboard. >> when you have inhale lant abuse four times higher, marijuana abuse many, many times higher compared to other drugs of abuse this is not the most serious threat facing a lot of families. >> reporter: makers say their products help millions of people
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and should stay over the counter and parents are the key to curbing abuse. >> many parents do not talk to their children but we doe no that parent that is do talk to their children have a 50% decrease in using drugs. >> reporter: misty agrees. she says restricting the medicines to prescription only probably won't help. >> it might be, you know, a short-term, quick fix so it's the access is still there. >> once again, our elizabeth cohen reporting and cough syrup misuse is by no means limited to teens. the nfl's top draft pick three years ago was arrested in july for possessing a controlled substance. it's alleged that russell had codeine-laced cough syrup without a prescription and pleaded not guilty and awaiting trial in his hometown. raiders released him in may after three sub par seasons. no other nfl team picked him up.
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going on right now, a multistate hunt for this money, dr. emelio luna. a pediatrician suspected of distributing child porno. he was under house arrest and cut off an ankle monitoring device and just took off.
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primary day in seven states abe district of columbia. the voting will not only decide the november ballots but how worried and angry the voters are. florida utility company says it will provide $100 million to help rebuild parts of a san francisco su ush detried by the deadly gas line explosion and fire. that includes up to $50,000 per household for living expenses. that blast in san bruno destroyed 37 homes and killed 4 people. cnn equals politics and one of the big issues in the political world affects pretty much everyone. taxes for next year and whether you 'll pay more. we'll take a closer look straight ahead. mary: does this dress make my backside look big? abe: perhaps... save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance?really host: is having a snowball fight with
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pitching great randy johnson a bad idea? man: yeah, i'm thinking maybe this was a bad idea.
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stocks have been on a roll this month and yesterday was no
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exception. the dow jumped more than 80 points to thanks to upbeat news. allison? >> kyra, expect stocks to be under pressure today although stock futures off the lows and you can thank positive retail sales numbers for that. those just came out this morning. we found out that retail sales rose .4% in august which is actually better than expected an a really good sign because august is an important month. back to school season and it shows consumers were willing to part with their cash and dig into that back to school spending a bit and finding that some sectors still struggling. car dealers, furniture makers and electronic stores. we watched this report really closely because spending is really what drives this economy and investors looking to how much consumers are spending because once that money hits the market, that gets the wheels turning and want to see that confidence return to the markets, as well. also keeping an eye on shares of
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best buy. best buy with the second quarter earnings. they beat the street and estimates. they raised their outlook for the year which shows that they have confidence and an improving economy. best buy shares right now are up in the premarket about 8%. and finally, kyra, it is really the age-old question, what do men really want? the answer may really surprise you. it is not about what you look like. a study from ing direct finds that men want a woman with a low credit card balance, a big shocker there. in fact, 61% of men find a frugal blind date to be smart and sexy. oh, but the ladies don't feel the same. most women likely to be upset if the date doesn't spend enough money on them. not such a big shocker there. what do you think? >> yeah. i'm not buying it. i think that women want to be treated well and, yes, they don't want someone a tight wad and men are wrapped up in looks.
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>> aren't they interested in your credit card balance? >> yeah. they want sugar mamas. they want someone to take care of them. that's it. >> but there you go. if they have a low credit card balance, more willing to be able to take care of them, right? >> oh my goodness. we could talk about this for a long time. >> i know. >> being the career women that we are, yes. there we have the opening bell. >> there's the opening bell. let's wait a minute and see how stocks are doing. right now, we are starting to the downside a bit. back to you. >> all right. thanks. congress is back in session today for the big election push and the big issue is whether you 'll have to pay more taxes in 2011. congressional correspondent brianna keilar with us to tack about this. this is a lot of money. >> reporter: this is big money according to the tax calculator from the tax policy center if the tax cuts were to expire, you can completely understand how it hits you in the pocketbook.
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let's talk about we crunch the numbers based on a couple. say they're making about $57,000 per year. a married couple filing jointly. they would see their tax liability increase $2,000. that's a lot of money and this is obviously very much a middle class couple. making $106,000 or thereabouts up $3,000. let's say they're doing really, really well, $400,000 per year. filing jointly. up $6,000. so you can see, kyra, why this is such a political hot potato because you look at those numbers there on the right side of that screen and you say, i can completely understand what i would have to do without or even if i could go without if these were to expire. >> all right. so what are the chances that this issue could be settled before the midterms? >> reporter: this week is the temperature check because the senate was back yesterday. the house coming back today and we are going to be seeing
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members of the congress milling about the hill and where they are on this issue. the thing is conventional wisdom tells you it's hard to find some sort of agreement as they move into the midterm elections. they're only going to be on the hill really for a few weeks before they take off from washington again. the question then being are they going to pass something before the election that's going to be difficult? but you can just see how politically devastating it would be for democrats and republicans if they don't figure out sort of solution here and that's the answer that maybe they'll if they don't gate deal with this before the election maybe deal with it after because you can't imagine them sticking all americans with that much of an increase in their income taxes. >> yeah. all right. we'll follow it. thanks, brianna. later today president obama is set to speak to the in addition's school children to make the most of their education. according to text, the speech he is going to tell them, quote, your future is in your hands and your life is what you make of
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it. the last back to school speech met with criticism of conservatives. he received praise from both parties for delivering a positive message on education. but we have seen that natural gas explosion and what it did to san bruno, california. let rewind. take a look that the security video. on the left you see the smoke rising and then boom. explosion and fire ball 6:07 p.m. pacific time. this video is from inside a market. you can't see the blast but the shoppers sure do. some run out to see what happened. others don't know whether to stay or go. it's a chaotic moment there. on that thursday evening. four people still missing in san bruno, by the way. at least four people were killed and pg&e said they'll help pay off that emergency.
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they're going after the city council now in california. >> we want them to go to jail. we want them stripped of everything that we have been stripped of. >> yep. there's unfinished business in bell and why the overtaxed folks to celebrate.
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and checking top stories. word out just this morning that american hiker sarah shourd is released after spending a year in detention. short and two hiking companions detained after they allegedly strayed into iran last year. secretary of state hillary clinton and enjoy george mitchell meeting with leaders of israel and palestinian authority. gathering going on in an egyptian red sea resort. the talks continuation of discussions held recently in washington. primary day in seven states and district of columbia. not only decide the november ballots but set the tone of how worried and angry voters are
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before the midterm elections. and a view from above. this is what hurricane igor looks like from space as the category 4 storm swirls under the atlantic. pretty impressive sight but igor is expected to weaken. right, rob? >> we started off strong. any weakening will take but it's still a monster. cool shot from the issi there and a cool shot. this is our satellite. ghost 15. launched this past spring and brand spanking new and they have this mode they call it pretty much rapid scan mode where it can take a snapshot almost every minute so you got an almost continuous loop of what's going on in that hurricane. look at how distinct that guy is. peer right down into it. unbelievable how gorgeous that shot is. i say gorgeous because most of this storm is not going to affect too many people. we certainly hope that that forecast verifies and more confident about that. this is the infrared shot. the other is visible.
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just basically taking snapshots. we measure this with infrared imagery. the colors enhancing what we can't see at night. category 4 storm. it's moving to the west but notice this little jog last couple of -- whoop. starting to see this turn to the north we have been anticipating with the way the atmosphere is set up and actually the national hurricane center is thinking it will take a turn to the north. remaining a major storm until a little bit further north in the general vicinity of the north and propagating to the east coast of the united states. the other area of concern watching here and the national hurricane center may fly planes into this later on today, that disturbance heading in this general direction and may turn into something more consequence hitting mexico, maybe affecting southern parts of texas, as we go through the next few days.
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severe storms in the mid section of the country today and a possibility today and seeing thunderstorms in this area just south and west of st. louis. we expect another batch to develop later on today once it begins to wane. fire in loveland, 20% contained. just under a thousand acres and red flag warning for utah and eastern nevada today for the west coast viewers. 93 in dallas. 78 comfortably cool degrees in new york city. kyra, back over to you. >> thanks, rob. >> you bet. strapped since mid-summer and now the effort to reach the miners takes a hit.
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♪ o say can you see
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all right. go ahead, stand. put your right hand over your heart and sing "the national anthem" would you? 196 years ago on this day 1814 francis scott key is credited with writing the lyrics to "the star-spangled banner" after witnessing the british bombardment of maryland's fort mchenry in the war of 1812 and originally a poem and set to a popular drinking tune at the time and american colonial verse of "american idol" that stands the test of time. politicians love to rally votes promising to be tough on crime. meet a candidate who showed he is more than talk. william keating in a diner and a man snatched a purse outside the window and then this. >> right on main street. sunday morning. where there's a guy running down the street with a purse and a
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whole group of people shouting stop or get him. >> the guy that saw him running by, he called me. you ought to see what happened and we heard the commotion. >> keating and another customer chased down the suspect and turns out he was already wanted. oh, and the purse contained thousands of dollars because the owner arranging a wedding. keating is a congressional candidate and used to bad guys. he's currently the norfolk district attorney. time now for stories from the best political team on television. quick peek. democrats with a new campaign against john boehner. the queen of the wrestling world in a tough political fight and filmmaker michael moore applying for a job in the obama white house. our senior political editor mark preston joins us once again. >> we talk about the primaries today but the fact of the matter is so many other political stories making news today.
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john boehner again in the sights of the democratic national committee running an ad criticizing him saying he doesn't care about the american workers and they're running that ad this week. last night they put up another ad trying to frame boehner as a political insider, trying to say he is not an outsider and doesn't have solutions so that ad is running on national cable through the end of the week. as you said, linda mcmahon, folks out there growing up watching wrestling and she is an excellent candidate up in connecticut. she is running as a business woman for the senate. republican nomination. she was able to beat back the establishment candidate to win that nomination and now the general election candidate. a new poll out has he just down six points to the attorney general richard blumenthal in office for quite sometime so a very, very strong race going on in connecticut. republicans are hoping that linda mcmahon's deep pockets
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carry the day and then what would be a day without michael moore? he is always trying to make news and he did again yesterday on our own situation room with wolf blitzer. a lot of talk of rahm emanuel leaving, perhaps running for mayor of chicago. michael moore again said, look, i want to be chief of staff. why don't you elect me or why don't you pick me for the job? not the first time he said this, kyra. i don't think the obama administration is going to choose him. >> we'll follow up. that's for sure. mark, thanks. all right. your next political up dmat an hour and reminder for latest political news, go to cnn.com. here's welcome sight, bell, california. put on the map until the people said no more. finally bell has something to clap and cheer about. we'll tell you how some of those folks are finally getting some of their money back. i want to give my 5 employees health insurance,
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but i just can't afford it. i have diabetes. i didn't miss a premium payment for 10 years. and i'm worried if i lose my job, i won't be able to afford insurance. when i graduated from college, i lost my health insurance. the minute i got sick, i lost my insurance. not anymore. not anymore. not anymore. america's healthcare reforms change lives for the better. to find out how it can help you, visit us at americasfairhealthcare.org it's not just fair, it's the law.
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buckle up. let's go cross country. first stop, detroit, where
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accused underwear bomber wants to be his own attorney. nigerian national faces counts related to they tempted bombing of a u.s.-bound plane from the netherlands. the next court date is a month from now. in arizona, one of three suspects who escaped a state jail and allegedly killed two people appeared in court yesterday. the ring leader and trigger man in the jailbreak and slaying of a vacationing oklahoma couple. he and his fiancee caught three weeks later when a park ranger recognized them at a camping area. new hampshire, police say they recovered thousands of dollars of suspected stolen property. police say the robbers targeted as many as 50 homes they knew were unoccupied by the facebook postings of vacationing homeowners. so if outrage were a state then bell would definitely have to be the capital and why we
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haven't left the story alone. this little dot in expensive los angeles county is mostly poor. median annual income about $40,000 per year and the city manager was pulling in nearly $800,000 a year. other city officials making curiously huge salaries before people in bell got wind of it and ran them off. now we have an update. property owners will get some of their money back. money that was going to the overpaid underworked so-called leaders. it is not a huge amount but it is a start. the story from eric spillman now of ktla. >> reporter: acting governor put his name on the dotted line and there was something to cheer about in the city of bell. >> signed! >> reporter: property owners here could finally celebrate in front of city hall. bell is one of the poorest cities in l.a. county but for years it's had one of the highest property tax rates with the money paying the salaries
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and pensions of city employees. with the scandal exposed, state lawmakers took action to give taxpayers here $3 million of their money back. >> refunded because it was taken illegally by their city council who thought they were above the law. we're here to say, no, you're not. >> reporter: various politicians crowded in front of the cameras to take credit for the law which they say sends a message. >> if you are city council member or a mayor or even a board of supervisor around california and you know this is going on in your city, we're going to start looking. it's not going to be fun for you. >> reporter: still, many in the crowd are demanding more than just a tax refund for the people responsible for the mess in bell. >> we want them to go to jail and be stripped everything we have been stripped of. >> each property owner should
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get about $300 back. the people are working on a petition to boot several city council members who were making about $100,000 a year for part-time service. most state and federal agencies are investigating the city. vernon, california, just a few miles away, it has 90 residents. listen to what their top city managers were making, about $1.6 million a year, and getting perks, like first-class airline tickets in a town that laid off workers and cut health benefits because of budget problems. makes you wonder, how many more bell, california and vernon, california are out there. starting with josh levs, what's coming up? >> millions of miles of natural gas pipelines lie beneath the country. how old are they? how often are they sflofld fatal accidents? i have the answers for you at the top of the hour. >> i'm shannon travis here in
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dover, delaware, where christine o'donnell hopes to be celebrating tonight a primary win. can she pull it off? the long wait is finally over for one of the three u.s. hikers jailed in iran. sarah shourd has been released from a tehran prison. the latest coming up at the top of the hour. also, fat and in denial. a new study says that 3 in 10 overweight americans think they're normal sized no matter what the scale says. maybe they're right. as a nation, we're packing on the pounds. has fat become the new norm? sound off at cnn.com/keeria. we'll talk about it next hour. i was a bookkeeper for 34 years.
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all right, our morning passport takes us to the southern hemisphere. let's start in chile where workers are trying to drill is rescue shaft to reach 33 miners trapped under ground. we have the difficulties that those workers are having right now. >> reporter: family members of
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trapped miners gather for an emergency meeting in an area closed to the press. the subject, the slow progress in res skying their loved ones. this woman says some relatives are at wit's end. >> translator: they called a meeting because some families are worried about the pace of the drilling. >> reporter: not going at all sometimes. it's been tough going. they are steadily grinding away at the mind but with frequent stoppages for maintenance. the planned drill is still being delivered. the plan b drill, making the best progress of all, has come to a full stop. this engineer shows a piece of the drill bit from plan b, completely destroyed after colliding with a reinforcement beam in the mine's depths. he says he knows why families are upset. >> we just talked with them and they understood very well the
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things that we are doing here. obviously, they are a little anxious because of the problems that we had with plan b, but everything is understandable right now for them. >> reporter: you're still on schedule? >> of course. >> reporter: getting the plan b drill on schedule is brendan fisher job. his pennsylvania company rushed the bit and is working around the clock. >> the penetration rate stopped, the drill string torqued up violently. we tried to pull off bottom. we were hung in the hole. we worked at that for a while to get the bit past that obstruction and then back out of the hole. at that point in time, we really didn't know what the problem was until we cleared the rotary table and brought it back to surface. >> reporter: what went through your mind when the drill bit was destroyed? >> it's not a good feeling. it's never a good feeling, but, hey, you immediately get that out of your head and start to develop a game plan to recover
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the broken pieces. >> reporter: he hopes to have the drill back to work this week, and despite the delays, chilean officials still hope to have the miners above ground at least by november. patrick op man, cnn at the san jose mine. earlier this morning, after more than a year of being held in an iran jan jill, american hiker sarah shourd has been freed. she was taken into custody with her companions in the summer of last year after they allegedly strayed in iran. iran demanded a $500,000 bail. >> we came to this conclusion that because of the situation that she was staying in, we decided to kind of give some assistance and from detention we decided to set her free to her $500,000 bailout, and then today the representatives of this lady
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who accepted to bail her out. it was paid in a bank in iran. the money was paid there, and she -- the judge has issued the release order and miss shourd was simply set free, and she can leave iran if she wants to. >> the other two americans with sarah shourd are still being held. cnn's reza sayah will join us from islamabad, pakistan in a few minutes. in san bruno, california, five days after the gas explosion blasted through a neighborhood there, survivors whose homes were destroyed are getting some help from the utility company. pg&e says it will set up a $100 million fund ho help rebuild the area. home enners can get up to $50,000 to rebuild.
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at least four people were killed and four others are still missing. that blast blew a 28-foot section of natural gas pipe, about 100 feet, through the air. part of the pipe is going to a lab in d.c. for inspection. ted rowlands has more on the investigation. >> reporter: this gas station surveillance video shows the first moment of last thursday's explosion. watch closely as the man in the red vehicle gets out. first, you can see chunks of asphalt and debris, and then a massive wall of flames shooting into the sky. within seconds, the fire grows larger. a woman carrying a baby runs across the street away from the flames while others seem attracted toed blaze, some actually drive toward the fire. >> my first thought is a plane went down. i run up halfway down there. the fire was pretty bad. >> reporter: across the street, inside this grocery store, people said they first heard a strange hissing sound.
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now, watch as the sliding doors push in from the explosion. watch it again in slow motion. the store quickly turns to chaos. people start running away from one of the exits while others desperately try to get out of the store. still unanswered, what caused this massive explosion. many people here are getting impatient waiting for answers. >> my kids play at that park which is now melted. you know, these are neighbors. the woman down the block, my dog played with her dog and she's dead. it's not fair. >> reporter: the investigation is centered on this sexds of pipe installed in 1948. did the gas company, pg&e, miss warning signs that something was wrong before the explosion? several people in this neighborhood say in the days leading up to the explosion they smelled gas. one person even says he saw and talked to a pg&e crew about a gas leak, but pg&e says according to her records, since the month of july, they've only
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been here twice. >> in one instance, there was a small leak at the meter, which we replaced right away, and the second instance, there wasn't a leak found anywhere. >> reporter: we may never know if there was a second leak and if so, whether or not it was associated with the explosion. the pipe itself was last inspected in march. keeping them honest, we asked for the results of that inspection but we were told they couldn't be provided because of an ongoing investigation. we got the same response at a press conference. >> that is part of the ntsb investigation and i can't share that. >> reporter: they are setting up a $100 million fund for victims, and this week, they plan on giving everyone whose home was destroyed up positive $50,000, no strings attached. they claim it's the right thing to do. what's still unclear is what pg&e might have done sbrong whether there's a chance it may happen again. so let's take a look at how
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many old pipelines are out there and how often they're involved in accidents. josh levs has been looking into this for us this morning. we were talking about the minneapolis bridge that was, you know, taken down by something like this. >> it's interesting to talk about that because it's another example of infrastructure concerns inside the united states, things that need to be updated. you are hearing about things that are decades-old. a great many of them in this country are. look at this. this is a map of the u.s. and these are the gas pipelines, specifically natural gas pipelines in the u.s. the blue all over the country of the interstate pipelines. the red is intrastate. you can see a lot of states have pipelines that operate within the states. to show you how many we are talking about in this country, 2.5 million miles of gas pipelines in this country, enough to circle the earth 100 times. you have a lot of them carrying
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hazardous liquids and gas transmission, and the natural gas distribution is by far the majority of it. 2.1 million miles of that, and overseen by 3,000 different companies. so we're talking about a lot of companies overseeing millions and millions of miles of pipelines. we have a report earlier this year from the congressional research service looking at safety issues, and they were taking a look at what happened. they, first of all, said that for their few annual fatalities compared to other of transportation mode. they reported an average of one death per year from 2004 to a 2008, and the department of transportation said 63 natural gas transmission pipeline accidents in 2008. so when you look at all of these miles and miles and miles, it's not like this is happening every day. there are experts out there who take a look at this and say all of these miles of pipelines out there need to be watched really
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carefully. some people say it's a real serious safety concern in america. >> it's up to these companies to investigate the pipelines, right? >> that's right. this is part of what is the concern about it, ultimately who is going to be taking a look and who isn't. the federal department of transportation has about 80 inspect here's take a look at this and was bumped up recently with more money, about 100 but it is up to individual states to have inspectors to oversee what the companies are doing it. did you have a web structure of who needs to oversee it. >> how do you keep these pipelines safe? one accident is it obviously too much but we're talking about decades and decades-old pipe. they can't replace all of it but something has to be done to make it safer. >> exactly. they are trying to do that. you have more experts out there saying more experts are needed to take a look at that.
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this is something i just saw from the department of energy. can you get a shot of this? this a new technology that they're creating as a censor to detect defects in buried natural gas pipelines. you would actually put it inside and it would move around on its own and search for defects, potential leaks, potential holes. whether this itself will absolution, i don't know but it is very comforting to see there are people out there working on technology inat decision to incriesed inspections. hopefully you get humans and robots doing their jobs to watch out for holes, it could -- could -- help us stay safe. we will talk about the increasing need for pipeline safety in cities across the country. rick kessler will bring us up on more that needs to be done. we have the all-important midterm elections coming up in november but today we find out
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which candidates will make the final cut to get their names on the ballots. today's voting not only shape the races but also set the tone on how worried and angry the voters are before the midterm elections. we are covering all of the races with the best political team on television. let's begin in delaware. cnn plot producer shannon travis has reported extensively on the upstart conservative movement and joins us from dover. >> reporter: delaware isn't used to getting this much attention for a republican senate primary, but when you put sarah palin, joe biden and the tea party here, you are going to have us here and a lot of media attention. sarah palin and vice president joe biden battled for the vice presidential slot and he won that. will she in her preferred pick for this race win this battle? you have christine o'donnell,
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the conservative republican running against mike castle, congressman mike castle, who critics say is way to liberal, way to supportive of the obama agenda, of democrats, and we are outside of an elks lounge where christine o'donnell will gather. they're hoping for a victory party. it has been nasty and mean. voters are heading to the polls with fresh barbs of attacks in their minds. the polls close at 8:00. christine o'donnell has actually voted. we'll see what happens but we've been hearing a lot around the state and on radio, different kinds of radio how nasty the race has gotten. >> so some analysts are saying if o'donnell wins it would give dems a good shot at the seat. >> reporter: that's a slam that her critics are lodging against her, that she is way too out of the mainstream to actually win a
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general election. she may be able to pull it out in the republican primary but in a general election, blue state like delaware, she would not be competitive enough and this might actually give democrats a seat that a lot of democrats had actually written off. >> shannon travis, following the election are for us there. for everything, log into our website cnn politics.com. president obama will talk to the nation's school children. he'll tell them quote your life is what you make of it and nothing is beyond your reach. this is his second back-to-school speech. his first was met with except sich by conservatives. they thought he would use it to push his political agenda. that proved unfounded. we're going to have live coverage of president obama's back-to-school speech scheduled for 2:00 eastern.
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sarah shourd was freed today and is now in the kuft dif her attorney. a live report coming up. challenges as vast as the space race a generation ago. and vital to global security. to reach this destination, our engineers are exploring every possibility. from energy efficiency to climate monitoring. securing our nations clean energy future is all a question of how. and it is the how that will make all the difference.
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american hiker held more than a year in iran is free this morning. sarah shourd was charged with espionage and illegally entering iran. she was hiking with two friends when they allegedly strayed into iran. reza sayah is in islamabad, pakistan. how does this exactly come about? we haven't touched on the fact that she is concerned she might possibly have breast cancer. >> reporter: yeah, i mean, that's what senior prosecutor in tehran cited is the reason for the offer to release her for the half a million dollars in bail money. on sunday he said because of her medical condition, which, accordingly to the represent of sarah shourd's family is the
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discovery of a growth in her breast and also suffering from a pre-existing gynecological situation. we are getting some new information about her release. i spoke to her lawyer, and he said the release took place late this afternoon tehran time. he said he walked into tehran's prison and signed her release papers. the two walked out and she was handed to officials from the swiss embassy in tehran, of course, because tehran and washington do not have diplomatic relations it is the swiss embassy in tehran that is playing the role of mediator in this matter. the lawyer said that the release papers clearly said -- >> all right did we lose him. >> reporter: spoke with state-run media -- >> all right. we apologize. we kept losing reza's audio
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there. bottom line, we don't know if this bail money was paid or not. we're still trying to investigate that, but the release is apparently due to some medical conditions that sarah is going through. we'll work the story and try to bring you more information as we re-establish communication with reza. we start in the egyptian resort of sharm al shaykh. secretary of state hillary clinton stoke with hosni mubarak before she and special envoy george mitchell began meeting with the leaders of israel and the palestinian authorities. today's talk is a continuation of talks that were held at the white house earlier this month. paris, france, the country's senate is voting today on a law banning any veils that cover the face. that includes the burqa, the full body covering. they overwhelmingly approved the
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ban. they find the french favor the ban by a margin of more than 4 to 1. and the city holy to three major religions, jerusalem, remember that nanny in india who saved the life of an israeli boy during the 2008 mumbai terror attacks. she says he would give her heart and soul for israel. samuel has been granted honorary citizenship in israel. she's been carrying for the boy since his parents were killed in that attack. new pictures of hurricane igor, a monster sized storm -- we're going to tell you why you shouldn't worry ant it too much.
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$500,000 bail. a multi state hunt going on to dr. emilio luna of phoenix, arizona, he's a pediatrician sus spektsed of distributing child important. he was under house arrest but cut off a ankle bracelet and took off. today's electn will set the tone of how angry voters are before the midterm elections. >> how about a view from above. this is what hurricane igor looks like from space as the category 4 storm swirls around in the atlantic. it is expected to weaken and is more of a potential throat bermuda than the u.s. is that right? >> if that. if we can get it to miss bermuda, it's the perfect storm because we can admire it from outer space and have it be a fish storm. that shot from the international space station, which flies pretty low. this shot from our brand new
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ghost imagery satellite, this is way up there. pretty hard tech, just launched in the spring. not only is it high resolution from that altitude, they can rapid scan these. they did it yesterday afternoon when the sun was up at about a one-minute interval. that's a quick time picture of how to operates. that eye is so distinct. we can take this shot any time of night, kind of the night vision. you can see the cloud canopy getting pragmented but you see a little bit of a turn. we like that. we'll take that, and that's encouraging because once. started to do that, it will continue a northwesterly path and deep away from the u.s., we gain confidence with that.
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bermuda is still in the cone. we have concerns for our friends there. it's a big storm. that's for sure. there will be big-time waves. julia, a category one storm and that's probably going to be a fish storm as well but it's pretty far out there if africa. one other item of concern is this thing, just a disturbance right now but rapidly moving toward the yucatan peninsula. this may develop into something and affect this area. three things we are watching -- we're in the peak of hurricane season. here are some of the storms across the central part of the country. later on dark the back side of this may fill in a little bit and we may see gusty winds with hail or heavy downpours and frequent lightning. could use heavy downpours in places like loveland, colorado, that fire 20% contained.red flag
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warnings up for parts of southern utah. tipping the scales and in denial. a new study says that 3 in so overweight americans think that they're normal-sized. maybe they're right. is overweight the new normal? we'll be talking about it. copd makes it hard for me to breathe. but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now, i can join the fun and games with my grandchildren. great news! for people with copd, including chronic bronchitis,
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going cross country. detroit, accused underwear bomber wants to be his own attorney. the nigerian national faces multiple federal counts dex to the attempted christmas day bombs of a u.s.-bound plane from the netherlands. in kingman, arizona, one of three suspects who escaped a jail and allegedly killed two people while on the run. john mccluskey is described as the ring leader in the jail break and subsequent slaying of a vacationing oklahoma couple. they were caught three weeks later when they were recognized at a camping area. new hampshire, police say
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they recovered thousands of dollars from a suspected burglary ring which allegedly used facebook to help case potential heists. police say robbers targeted as many as 50 homes that they knew were unoccupied by the facebook postings of vacationing home owners. it's no secret that american waistlines are growing. more than two-thirds of adults qualify as obese or overweight by the cdc. that's way up from a couple of decades ago but a new study says we're in denial about it. "usa today" reports that 3 in 10 americans think that they're normal-sized even if the scale is screaming otherwise, and 7 in 10 obese americans think they're simply overweight. but maybe they have a point. heavy has become something of a national standard. take a look at this map showing the prevalence of obesity by state in 1985, 25 years ago and not a single state reporting to
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the cdc had an obesity rate greater than 1 in 10 residents but as the years passed, dark blue starts to dominate the map, and by 1997, they had to add new colors, red, dark red, yellow, yellow shows obesity over 20%, and red shows it topped 30% in some states. by last year, only colorado and d.c. maintained an obesity rate under 20%. so the scale says one thing, and the mirror is saying something entirely different to a whole lot of americans. this doctor is it a health and wellness advocate joining us live from new york. looking at these numbers, the fact that 30% of americans say, okay, i'm fine, i'm normal, has overweight become the new normal? >> unfortunately, it has, kyra, but i'm less concerned really
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with the bmi like was shown in this study and i'm more concerned with people's imagery. most americans will associate being overweight based on what they see in the mirror, not really the numbers that they see on the scale. >> and why is that? >> because body image is really important to americans. this is why we spend billions of dollars on health club memberships and exercise equipment, on the fad diets and on cosmetic surgery. >> but why don't people just want to be healthy and do what's right, eat what's right, exercise, so they have a longer life, they can be around to spend time with their grandchildren? >> yeah. i totally agree with you. i think part of the problem is we've been asking the same question, what, and not really concentrating on why. you have to be living under a rock to not know what's the difference between eating healthy or unhealthy or the importance of exercise, okay, but i think the issue here is why are people not doing this,
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you know? they know it's a health problem. they know it's a health risk, however, a lot of people are having concerns with being stressed out. they're depressed about jobs, depressed about employment, their bad relationships, and this is one of the reasons that they don't eat healthy or exercise appropriately. >> now, you know, we've done a lot of stories before about vanity sizing, and just recently it came out a number of men's stores were actually saying that pants were a size 36, but they actually were a size 41 with regard to inches. you know, why are companies doing this, and lying to the consumer and is this adding to the problem? >> well, this is close to being correct, such that the best way to really measure somebody's weight is to measure their belly fat. it's easy to do. if you have a tape measure,
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start and end at your belly button, go around your waist. do it once a week or once a month and measure your waist in inches. men should have less than 40 inches, and women should have less than 35. so they are correct for making the association, because it's the percentage of body fat that's associated with the increased risk of problems like heart disease. >> you talk about advertising. what do you think about the reality shows like "the biggest looser" and "celebrity fit club"? do you think these are good for us to see, good for society or do you think it's exploiting people who are overweight? >> well, it appears to be been philadelphia f -- beneficial for those who win because they lose weight. for the viewers, it's important that we are active in a plan. i tell patients to find a partner, execute a plan to help you and the person you're
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working with to meet your goals. >> how do we get out of this? how do we stop taking being overweight as just a normal thing and an okay thing? >> well, i think it's each and every one of us being accountable at the end of the day. one of the major problems people are not doing this is because they're just stressed out or do not have access to healthy foods or have recreational centers where they can exercise in her neighborhoods. there's a lot of factors involved, and i really think it's going to take a community approach to have success. i would like to see everyone take up way partner. i can tell you're concerned. i would like for us to start right here on live television to say you and i are going to do it. next time i come on television, i'm going to tell you my waist size to see if i've gone up or down and hopefully everyone else can follow the same friend. >> thank you for your time today. today, we ask the question,
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has fat become a new normal? not a ton of responses. people say i suspect that the clothing industry has a hand in this, making clothes larger by inches but putting a skinny size on the tag. the best way to find out if you are overweight is a tape measure. being overweight is a health issue. patricia says we need to charge higher insurance premiums to overweight people and give tax credits to fitness programs that are willing to help people lose weight. just log onto cnn.com/kyra, share your comments. that devastating explosion and fire in san bruno is putting a spotlight on natural gas pipes throughout the country. we're talking to an expert about just how trustworthy those pipes are.
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let's rewind to the moment that the gas explosion happened. you see smoke rising, and bomb, explosion and fireball, 6:07 pacific time, thursday. there it is. more than three dozen homes were blown apart or burned to the ground. pg&e says it will set up a $100 million found help rebuild the area, but four people are missing and four people can killed, including a 13-year-old. >> the pavilion is not available today. >> that's janessa at her ka catholic school. three that are still missing are part of that same family, a father, son and grandmother. that gas pipe was layed in nine 48. this whole episode has to make you wonder if something similar can happen it your neighborhood. we are talking about that with
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rick kessler. he stays can. i was reading a quote. i came across an article this morning and that's why ereally want the to talk to you. you said if this was the faa and air travel that we were talking about, i wouldn't get on a plane. >> i know i wouldn't, anyway, and i wouldn't recommend you do. the agency that oversees pipeline, the pipeline hazards materials safety administration, part of the department of transportation is a very undermanned, underfunded agency that really doesn't have the authority it needs to regulate these things and maybe not even the will to regulate the pipelines. >> so what needs to be done, because as i have been reading on, this pipe was decades-old and even some pipe is up to 80 years old, like the steam pipe that ruptured in manhattan back in 2007? so what needs to be done before
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something catastrophic like this happens again? >> well, at a minimum, the pipeline safety act that governs nationally all oil and gas pipelines needs to be reauthorized but it needs a major overhaul. we need more inspections. we need more people to inspect them. we need more stringent penalties. we need better training and all sorts of things, and we need a program to deal with the pipelines that are as old as you say. the natural gas act which governs when they are laid, not their safety, dates back to 1935, so we have pipes in the ground from back then. there's a lot more. plus, people don't know what's in their backyard. people don't know where the pipes are. they don't know anything about the inspection record. they don't know anything about how these pipes were fix fundamental problems were found, what problems were found opinion we need a right-to-know for pipelines. >> i thought congress passed a
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law back in early, i think, 2002 -- >> i worked on it. >> okay, all right. you know what i'm talking about. >> oh, yeah. >> it required that these inspections be done on pipelines that run through heavily populated areas. what happened with that, rick, because pin spekzs were done, problems were found and what happened after that? >> well, you know, there's no restandards for things like leak detection and the repairs of the pipelines. so problems are found, but what standard you have to repair to, what type of steel you use, the welding, all of these things, they are not strictly governed. we don't have the standards we need. the '02 act did a lot of good. it was a bipartisan bill, democrats, republicans, president bush, and it went a long way but we were starting to use a football analogy from our own end zone and made a good jump out to the 30 yard line but
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that's nowhere near a 50 yard line or a touchdown. there's a lot to be done, i think. >> i think everyone agrees with you on that point. definitely a lot to be done. we had a number of residents in the san bruno area when this happened that said on camera, and i remember one in particular saying, that this smell of gas was so strong for weeks in this neighborhood and they called pg&e, and that pg&e came out and then a couple weeks later had you this explosion. so what can we do as consumers? let's say i go home today and smell gas and my neighbors smell gas and we know there's a problem? what can we do to get our utility company to do something immediately? >> well, kyra, first, i have been remiss. let me say my heart goes out to the families of the victims and the hope for the survivors, the four that are missing. what i think people can do is not just notify the utility, but i think they also need to call local government, whether it's
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the police, fire or the california public utilities commission, but i think there's no reporting standard for these things in law that is of any real use. congressman mark shower of michigan, in whose district you just had the oil spill, embridge oil spill, has but in a bill that required notification of local authorities within an hour, i believe, and that's something that is attracting bipartisan attention. i think that should be part of any reauthorization. but, you know, only 7% of these pipelines, the pipeline mileage, is actually required to be inspected under the 2002 law. we need not only to expand that but a process for continuing to expand the areas of pipeline that have to be inspected, and they've got to be inspected with more rigor than they are today. it's really up to the pipeline company. >> we have aging gas pipe nationwide, that's for sure. rich kessler, appreciate your
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time today. >> kyra, thank you very much. sarah shourd, the american hiker held in iran for more than a year has been freed. she was charged with espionage and demanded $500,000 bail. it's not clear if that full amount was paid though. in egypt, israeli and palestinian diplomats have resumed the long-awaited peace talks. george mitchell says both sides have begun a discussion on core issues. a man hunt for dr. emilio luna, a pediatrician suspected of distributing child porn. he was under house arrest but cut off an ankle monitoring device and bolted. this little dot in an expensive los angeles county is mostly poor, the median annual income art $40,000 per year, but the city manager was pulling in nearly 800 grand a year. this is a story we just haven't
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wanted to stop talking about because other city officials were making curiously high salaries before people in bell got wind of it and ran them off. property owners will get some of their money back. the lieutenant governor made it official at a ceremony yesterday. about 300 bucks ber house hold. not a huge amount but definitely a start. the story doesn't end here. people in bell are working on a petition to boot several city council members who were making about $100,000 a year for their part-time service. both state and federal agencies are investigating that city. had you to know bell wasn't alone. vernon, california, just a few miles away with 90 residents, lift ton what their city officials were making, about $1.6 million a year and getting perks in a town that's laid off workers and cut health care benefits because of budget cuts.
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bill clinton still very much in demand. he hits the campaign trail for democrats in trouble. one of our stories from the best political team on television two minutes away.
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time now for the latest news from our best political team on television. paul steinhauser at the desk now. what's crossing, paul? >> reporter: brand new this morning on the cnn political ticker on cnn politics.com. republicans and democrats in this town and across the country on the campaign trail are arguing about whether the bush era tax cuts should continue for wealthy americans. a poll says 3 in 10 say extend
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the taxes for everybody. another 3 in 10 say extend them for the middle class and not the wealthy, and another 15% say, you know what, no tax cut extension for anybody. another brand new thing, check it out. if it's tuesday, it must be ohio. bill clinton has become a rock star for the democrats on the campaign trail this year. today he is going to be with ted strickland, the governor of ohio. clinton is campaigning with him twice today. yesterday he was in pennsylvania campaigning with joe sestak running for the senate there. finally, the tea party and coffee party, are they getting together? the coffee party, we talked about it earlier this year, maybe a progressive alternative to the tea party. the coffee party is having their first national convention later this month, 25th of september in louisville. guess who is going to be talking there, amy kramer, from the tea
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party express. maybe there's a little kumbaya here. >> tea party, coffee party. what's next? what do you drink in the morning? >> i can't talk about that on tv. >> could be an interesting party, though. your next political update comes in an hour or go to our web side cnn politics.com. ♪ [ male announcer ] you're at the age where you don't get thrown by curve balls. ♪ this is the age of knowing how to get things done. ♪ so why would you let something like erectile dysfunction get in your way? isn't it time you talked to your doctor about viagra? 20 million men already have. ♪
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♪ well i never thought that this would be the way you'd come back home ♪ it's time now for "home and away," our daily tribute to our men and women in uniform who have made the ultimate sacrifice in iraq and afghanistan. today we're lifting up today we lift up sergeant michael christian. his picture was taken by his mom. he was on r&r and was returning to iraq. his killed when his vehicle rolled over. six other soldiers were killed, and friends say he entered the army as an 18-year-old boy and
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died a man. he planned on going to college, get a degree be become a member of the army special forces like his dad and his grandfather. his blue-eyed sergeant from georgia loved music and sar denies. he was just 21 years old. it's an honor to remember those who lose their lives in service to this country. you can help. go to our website. you'll see a map of the united states. click on a town, pull up one of the many by i don'ts there and follow the directions to upload your comments photos have home videos. notes thank you friend for all your freedom that we've come to know ♪ and asked frequent heartburn sufferers, like carl, to put prilosec otc's 24 hour heartburn protection to the test for two weeks. the results? i can concentrate on everything i'm doing,
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how is this for coincidence? i'm in the market on sunday morning in the meat department, i run into lady gaga. apparently she was looking for something to wear to the vma awards. i guess she went with something from the oscar mayer dela rent today collection. did you see the dress? it was made of meat the dress was made of meat. it caused problems at the awards. show what happened. oh. well, if you think that late night had a field day over lady gaga's outfit. don't forget about jeanne moos.
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>> reporter: who on earth would shop for a dress in a butcher shop? >> lady gaga. >> reporter: there was she was head to toe in not so prime cuts. >> didn't look like the highest quality meats. >> reporter: but you have to give her credit for mounting the stairs wearing raw steak wedges. >> i don't like the shoes. >> reporter: she left cher holding the bag made of meat. >> i never thought i would be asking cher to hold my meat purse. >> reporter: at new york's fashion week. >> she's amazing. >> reporter: her meat outfit met with raised eyebrows. but even some of the rare birds at fashion week didn't find her look well done. >> it's revolting. >> i find it disturbing. >> reporter: didn't hurt his appetite, though. the animal rights folks at peta gagged on her latest stunt
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calling meat the decomposing flesh of an abused animal. mtv style said frank fernandez created the outfit and posted photos on his blog saying the meat came from his family butcher. ellen degenerous kept her distance. she's a vegan and presented her with a veggie bikini and skirt. >> how's that? >> reporter: in the past, the bacon bra had a moment of flame on flicker, and contestants on "america's next top model" had to wear meat. >> i have to wear beef panties. >> reporter: gaga wore meat once before on the cover of japanese vogue but which pieces did she wear? they think it was brisket or flank steak.
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>> you see resemblance to the outfit. >> reporter: and then there's that hat. you think that's flank steak? >> looks like it. >> reporter: the meat wasn't dripping but her eyes were as she belted out her new song. ♪ because god makes no mistakes ♪ >> reporter: but he does make steak. we were thinking this is the first dress would you have to refrigerate. tony harris, you hungry? what are you having for dinner? >> a little gaga rare. do you tenderize that? what do you do with that? >> you lightly fry it. >> have a great day. live from studio 7 at cnn world headquarters, the big stories for tuesday, september 14th, back to school clothes shoppers making august a very good month for retail sales. that is helping quiet chatter of a double-dip recession. president obama leaving th

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